Williams will have the first of its long-awaited updates arriving at this weekend’s British Grand Prix as it bids to turn around its flailing Formula 1 campaign.
Williams, fifth in last year’s Constructors’ Championship, adopted a new philosophy for its 2018 contender but the FW41 has proved lacklustre, a ‘draggy’ machine that lacks downforce.
Williams has scored points at only one Grand Prix – when Lance Stroll placed eighth in Azerbaijan – and it occupies last place in the Constructors’ Championship, 12 points down on nearest rival Sauber.
Stroll and team-mate Sergey Sirotkin, the only 2018 driver without a point, finished comfortably at the rear of the field in Austria, having been lapped twice by victor Max Verstappen.
When asked by Motorsport Week to identify the strengths of Williams’ FW41, Sirotkin said: “Strengths? It’s been reliable,” before laughing.
“Reliable. I think it has reasonable downforce in a straight-line if that makes sense. It’s difficult to judge it. For sure we can stay it’s been reliable.”
Stroll, meanwhile, cut straight to the chase: “nothing”.
The Canadian added that Williams “don’t think we really know why exactly” it was able to make it through to Q2 in Austria and that “some weekends we’re struggling more than others.
“Consistency hasn’t really been there. We made it into Q2 at other circuits and then the weekend after were in Q1, off the pace by quite a bit.”
It has been a difficult season for Williams in understanding why its anticipated step forward plunged it to the rear of the grid, as it bids to arrest the slide and prevent damage for 2019.
Sirotkin explained two weeks ago in France that Williams had implemented a recovery programme earlier in the season once it realised its predicament, and expected the first part of that scheme to arrive "in one or two months".
Sirotkin revealed that the FW41 will have updated parts this weekend, the first of the development programme, ahead of a bigger package that is set to come within the next sphere of Grands Prix.
“It’s the very first bits that are coming,” Sirotkin confirmed.
“If we will be able to see the first initial good improvement [then] at least it does give you confidence that what we are doing [is right].
"Because there are some bigger, actually quite a bit bigger parts coming after, [and at Silverstone] we will see the first progress from, at least we get confidence that the way we are developing is the right way.”
Sirotkin added that the FW41’s updates should result “[in] lap time”, but stressed that “it’s more like, kind of, bringing more to a stable, consistent base.
"It is also lap time, but [more important is] a much more fundamental base before bringing bigger parts to the car which will be more aimed toward lap time, but what we have here will still be worth something.”
Discussion about this post